Jonna’s gone forever and he’s stuck here with us.”
“That still doesn’t mean—”
“No,” she agreed before he could finish the thought.
“But it does mean I’m not going to take it too person-
ally and you shouldn’t either. Mother used to tease me
about the time I stomped my foot and yelled that I was
purply mad with her.”
“
“I knew purple, I didn’t know perfect. The point is, she
was my mother. Not my stepmother, yet I absolutely hated
her at that moment. Nothing we can say or do changes the
fact that Jonna’s dead. That’s the cold hard reality Cal has
175
MARGARET MARON
to deal with, but it’s something he’s going to have to work
through on his own. All we can do is give him love and
security and let him know what the rules are.”
Her face was turned up to his and he bent his head to
kiss her. “Anybody ever tell you you ought to run for
judge?”
When they got to the courthouse, it was still pour-
ing, so he dropped her at the covered doorway to the
Sheriff ’s Department and she waited while he parked
and made his way back with a large umbrella. Despite
the rawness of the day, this felt to him like a spring rain,
not a winter one.
“I know Cletus and Mr. Kezzie have a garden big
enough to feed everybody,” he said happily, “but don’t
we want a few tomato plants of our own? And maybe
some peppers? Oh, and three or four hills of okra,
too?”
She shook her head in mock dismay. “Are tomatoes
the camel’s nose under the tent? Am I going to come
home and find the south forty planted in kitchen veg-
etables? I’m warning you right now, Major Bryant. You
can plant anything you want, but I don’t freeze and I
certainly don’t can.”
Because it was early for her, they walked down to the
break room and as they emerged with paper cups of
steaming coffee, they met a damp Reid Stephenson.
“Got an extra one of those?” he asked.
“You’re out early,” Deborah said.
“I’ve had Flame Smith on my tail since last night.
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HARD ROW
What about it, Dwight? When did he die? Before the
divorce or after?”
“Now that I can’t tell you for sure. We may not ever
know.”
“Guess I’d better go talk to Pete Taylor,” he said.
